The development of social media has revolutionized marketing and communication. Even email has changed in response to the social media revolution. During the past few years, the debate as to whether or not email is obsolete has surfaced. Atos, a French information technology company, believes that internal email is unnecessary and have taken steps to eradicate it.

Employees will be banned from sending inter-office emails because according to the CEO of Atos, only 10% of the 200 emails received at the office are actually pertinent, and 18% are simply spam messages. To highlight how insignificant Atos finds email, Breton, the chairman and CEO of Atos, has not sent out an email in the three years of holding his title. Instead of communicating over email, employees will communicate over Facebook and instant messaging. Furthermore, Atos is constantly looking for other, newer forms of social media to better facilitate inter-office communication

Atos may be on to something in their decision to discontinue the use of email. Email is, quite frankly, a hassle. Unlike with IM tools, you must send messaging using an email address, instead of a name, and you can’t track conversations as easily via email. Mailboxes constantly fill up with spam and long-winded messages. Email also lends itself to a more formal communication than does instant messaging or Facebook. While there is still a place for a more formal exchange externally, it does not seem necessary use within an office. Communication through social media is less formal, more brief, and usually received and responded to quickly–all these features make it perfect for inter-office communication. Instead of unopened messages inundating your mailbox, it is preferable to have short, concise messages. Email isn’t dead yet, but it is unnecessary and time consuming when used for informal communication.

The most popular discussion on LinkedIn’s “Intelligent Social Media” Group asks a pressing question about social media ownership within companies: Who should own the social media responsibility in corporations? Obviously, this is a loaded question with multi-faceted answers but the best discussions on LinkedIn generally are. Jay Baer, founder of Convince and Convert, and Amber Naslund break down this frequently complicated issue in terms of football. Even if you’re not a sports fan, the analogy is easy to understand and implement for any sized organization.

The coaching staff can be large or small but should represent many different departments including Marketing, PR, Communications, Investor Relations, HR, Customer Service, and IT—just to name a few. The players are the listeners and implementers, they are the ones making it happen on the ground level and interacting with customer conversations directly. They should be well-trained and well-versed in the tools and procedures and managed accordingly. The participants that develop the strategies for each facet of social media represent The Booth. The Booth may not require daily involvement but is important to developing a strategy that will increase ROI and accomplish communication goals rather than just being present without any real objective.

There has never been a more exciting time to be in public relations, advertising and marketing, thanks to the revolutionizing momentum of social media, online communications and creativity. The sheer adventure of being at the beginning of a new frontier, a global transformation, a whole new way of looking at communication, it’s exhilarating.

Also it’s confusing, and corporations are wondering—who’s who and where’s where in this new world. Who really knows what they are doing? And are most corporate communications departments fumbling as they learn? Can anyone afford to make mistakes as they learn?

On this threshold comes a new company, called Trufflepig Search, to recruit experienced communications and marketing professionals who are fluent in social media and savvy about how to harness the beast to drive the brand. Trufflepig Search—we dig deep to unearth the best in social media. Like the prized animal that can sense where the most delicious mushrooms grow and dig them up unharmed for consumption by people who appreciate the best, we at Trufflepig Search know how to find the best communicators and separate them from the rest. We bring them to client corporations for consumption as full-time leaders and coaches—the key to corporate social media strategy that works.

With offices in Los Angeles and Hong Kong, Trufflepig Search will launch in January 2011, to serve the hungry consumer brand companies who desperately need strategic communicators who can navigate and capture social media for their brands. Launched as a separate division of respected executive search firm Berkhemer Clayton, Trufflepig Search will capture the category. Our goal is that inside three months, corporate communications executives will think Trufflepig when they need one or a team of social media pro’s.

The team-members we place will transform your company for the digital age.

“We dig deep to recruit the best in social media,” let us know what you think of this tagline on our Facebook page, Twitter, or join our LinkedIn group; comments, follows, and likes welcome. And look forward to our website launch in January 2011!